Here it is, the fourth and final recap of the 2012 York Revolution squad, this time on the bullpen and catchers (sorry catchers, no separate post for perhaps the toughest position in baseball). My apologies on getting around to this late, been a little busy covering high school sports as we get into the time of the year for league titles, playoffs, districts and beyond, as well as catching up on reading all the Sports Illustrateds that have been laying around the house for weeks (seriously, who can read those things front to back each week?) and breaking my ankles jumping on and off the Baltimore Orioles’ bandwagon (don’t act like you weren’t doing the same). Anyway, before we get to that, wanted to point out a couple newsworthy items worth checking out:

- Atlantic League expansion…to the Caribbean?: YDR Revs’ beat writer Jim Seip did a good job reporting on Peter Kirk’s intentions of possibly expanding the Atlantic League to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico or Cuba (yes, really, Cuba). This would make sense, considering at least a fifth of most Atlantic League rosters are made up of players from the Caribbean. A roster could easily be filled should the league want to travel far down south. And if it can be any kind of draw like Sugar Land, why not give it a shot? The only question mark would be travel costs. It makes no sense to do it if the league loses money.

- Camden front office: The Riversharks sent out a press release Monday announcing longtime general manager Adam Lorber is being promoted to general manager AND team president. Lorber has served as the team’s GM since 2003. In addition, Lindsay Rosenberg, who has spent the last four seasons in group sales has been promoted to the position of assistant general manager. Rosenberg earned a bachelor’s degree in Sports, Entertainment and Event Management from Johnson and Wales (Rhode Island) University in 2009. While attending school, she had opportunities to work at both Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA and at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Now on to the recap….

 

As far as publicity goes, the guys in the bullpen have it tough. Position players and starting pitchers normally get most of the attention. On the rare occasion a reliever gets anything said about him, it’s normally because he’s been lights-out as a closer or a set-up man or he made an impressive spot start. So, if a reliever doesn’t fit that category, he’s probably left out on the street with the rest of the guys who don’t get much attention, even if they might have an interesting back-story. So, lets just say this blog post is my attempt at making up for all of that….

At the start: At the start of the year, York’s bullpen consisted of right-handers Dumas Garcia, Ricardo Gomez, Omar Javier, Santo Luis, Stephen Penney, R.J. Rodriguez, Shaun Garceau and Adam Thomas and left-handers James Houser, Yunior Novoa and Ian Thomas. By the end Gomez, Novoa, Penney, Rodriguez and Thomas were all that were left of the original bunch. Newcomers on York’s year-end roster included right-handers Mike Benacka and Kris Regas and left-hander Wade Korpi.

Come and go: Garcia (1-0, 6.00 ERA, 27 games), Garceau (0-0, 7-71 ERA, 3 games), Houser (2-1, 5.50 ERA, 33 games), Javier (1-6, 5.66 ERA, 22 games) and Luis (0-0, 4-50 ERA, 3 games) were all released at some point in the season, while right-hander Andy Wells (0-0, 16.61 ERA, 3 games) and left-handers Matt Chico (1-3, 7.50 ERA, six starts) and Victor Garate (0-0, 5.40 ERA, 1 game) were on the short list of pitchers who joined York mid-season but would be released before the end of the year.

Picked up: Thomas the only York reliever and one of three Revs’ players to earn a big league contract this season (all three were pitchers)  in 2012. The 25-year-old earned his first affiliated contract after putting together a 0.96 ERA in 9.1 innings of relief for York. He had spent his first three pro seasons with independent club Winnipeg (Northern League/American Association) before coming to York. In 26 relief appearances for Rome, the lefty went 5-0 with a 3.15 ERA, striking out 58 and walking 15 over 45.2 innings pitched.

8th/9th inning guys: Right-hander R.J. Rodriguez started off the year as the Revs’ closer but lost the job to Ricardo Gomez when he left for the Mexican League mid-season. Adam Thomas served as the Revs’ set-up man the majority of the first-half and then split the duties with Rodriguez when he returned. Rodriguez did fill in as the ninth-inning guy occasionally in the final couple months. Rodriguez went 2-3 with a 2.02 ERA and 13 saves over 55 appearances. Thomas had a 8-2 record and 3.65 ERA in 67 appearances (64 innings), striking out 42 and walking 15. Gomez collected 17 saves, 2.66 ERA and 4-1 record in 46 games (47.1 innings).

Middle relief: Left-handers Yunior Novoa (2-6, 4.71 ERA, five starts, 38 games), Kris Regas (3-2, 2.78 ERA, 44 games) and Wade Korpi (4-0, 2.26 ERA, 3 starts, 18 games) and right-hander Stephen Penney (2-1, 3.13 ERA, 62 games) had good seasons in the ‘pen.

Novoa went back-and-forth between the bullpen and starting rotation at the start of the year before serving mainly as a reliever in the final few months. Korpi ended up being a good mid-season pick-up for the Revs. The lefty was lights-out in his three spot starts, putting up a stellar 1.93 ERA in 9.1 innings.

One other middle reliever, Mike Benacka, joined York in the final month of the season and had a 1-0 record, 3.00 ERA and one save in six relief appearances. But he took the loss after giving up four runs on one hit and two walks in 2/3 of an inning in Game Two of the Freedom Division Championship Series against Lancaster. The Revs didn’t like what they saw, either, sending him back to the Laredo Lemurs (American Association) after the season.

Catchers: Instead of dedicating a whole blog post to the catchers, it’ll be included here as more an honorable mention (sorry Travis Scott and Salomon Manriquez). York started off the year with Scott and Salvador Paniagua behind the dish. Etch’ used the left-handed hitting Scott and right-handed hitting Paniagua as a platoon. York released Paniagua on July 19 and signed Manriquez the next day. It’s tough in the Atlantic League to find a solid defensive catcher who can also hit well. And when that rare guy comes along, he’s normally picked up right away by a big league club since that’s so rare. That’s why it’s tough to be hard on Atlantic League clubs about not finding a solid-hitting catcher. Plus, it has to be hard on catchers to have a good batting average considering they’re not playing every game for obvious reasons.

With all that being said, Scott had a .228 average with seven homers and 28 RBIs in 81 games while Manriquez finished with a .287 average, two homers and 16 RBIs in 32 games. Manriquez upped his batting average in his final 18 games, during which he went he hit .387. Paniagua departed mid-season with a .227 average over 40 games.

(Note*The following stats are through Game 2 of the FDCS) As far as how they performed behind the plate, Paniagua caught in 40 games (38 starts) and caught a total of 328.2 innings. York pitchers had a 4.11 ERA with Paniagua catching. Revs’ pitchers were about the same in the 601.1 innings with Scott behind the dish with a 4.12 ERA. Manriquez, meanwhile, made 32 starts to help Revs’ pitchers get a 3.63 ERA in his 275.1 innings catching. However, all three had trouble throwing out runners at second and third. Paniagua caught 5 of the 40 guys who stole on him, while Scott gunned 12 of 48 and Manriquez nailed down just three of 25 base-stealers. That’s a combined percentage of 17.7 (20 caught of 113 base-stealers).

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James Houser had been a starter his entire career before coming to York. And for the most part, he succeeded in the role. The 27-year-old reached the majors at the end of the 2010 season with the Miami (then Florida) Marlins and earned a spring training invite the following year with the Baltimore Orioles.

Unfortunately, that’s where things took a wrong turn for the 6-foot-5 right-hander. Houser soon found out he needed open heart surgery to repair an enlarged aorta. A former second-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2003, Houser would miss the entire 2011 season to recover from surgery.

In his return back to the game, Houser assumed the role of reliever this season for York. Still, his plan all along has been to eventually build himself back up to being a starter.

The Florida native won’t get that chance with York. The Revs released the lefty on Sunday, a day after the club cut right-hander Omar Javier. Houser leaves York with a 2-1 record and 5.51 ERA in two starts and 31 relief appearances. Javier gathered a 5.67 ERA and 1-6 record in nine starts and 13 relief appearances.

Second chance: Houser might not be done pitching in the Atlantic League this season, though. Chatting in the Revs’ clubhouse Sunday night following York’s 6-2 over Lancaster, Houser said he plans to sign with the Camden Riversharks so long as he passes a physical.

When asked if he plans to start for Camden, Houser said his “plan all along is to eventually be a starter again.”

Revs’ pitching coach Mark Mason has said previously that Houser will be challenged in his return to be a starter, mainly because there are limitations on how much he can strain his heart as a result of the surgery. Mason described Sunday night how starting pitchers need to do various conditioning drills between starts to keep up the body’s endurance for starts. Some of those drills, such as running vigorously for 20 to 30 minutes at a time, might be too hard on Houser’s heart.

“My advice to him was basically go home and build yourself back up. So that way next season you’ll give yourself a chance to come in ready to be a starter,” Mason said.

Memorable moment: The most memorable moment Houser had in his time with the Revs this season came back on June 12, when he started against Southern Maryland in place of Shawn Hill. You see, it appeared as though rain would come early in that game, and Revs’ skipper Andy Etchebarren thought there would be a good chance the contest would be rained out. As a result, he didn’t want to throw Hill out there and have him go a few innings only to see the game delayed and later called due to rain – essentially wasting a start from Hill. So, Houser stood in. And the rain never came.

In his first start for York and first start overall since 2010, Houser lived up to the task by tossing 2.2 innings of scoreless ball, giving up four hits while striking out two and walking one. The Revs collected just enough runs and seven pitchers combined to hold the Blue Crabs to just two runs in a 3-2 victory.

Roster: The Revs’ now have 23 players on their active roster, two below the maximum allowed by the Atlantic League. York is expected to bring a relief pitcher on board later this week. Other than that, it seems like the club is comfortable with its current roster. Third baseman Ramon Castro sat out Sunday’s game due to an undisclosed illness, but he’s not expected to miss significant time. Outfielder Michael Hernandez has also been out of action the last few weeks while recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered when diving for a flyball. Still, York collected 13 hits on Sunday with both of them out of the lineup, so the Revs’ offense is stacked at this point.

The starting rotation of right-hander Corey Thurman and left-handers Chris Waters, Chris Cody, Derrick Gordon and Ryan Feierabend looks pretty good at this point, too.

Deep-tissue: All but Waters had an impressive performances in their last outings. Waters was shelled by Lancaster on Friday to the count of eight runs on nine hits in 2.1 innings. The lefty had been dealing with tightness in the left side of his neck earlier this season, but Mason said he isn’t concerned about Waters health. Rather, (and I have to admit I learned something here because I have never before heard of this playing a role) Mason cited that Waters had a deep-tissue massage to his legs hours before his start Friday. As a result, Waters didn’t have his legs under him, Mason said.

“Shawn Hill missed a start earlier this year because he got a deep-tissue massage before a game,” Mason said.

Recap: With their win Sunday, the Revs (45-42 overall, 9-8 second half) have now won three straight for the first time since winning four in a row from June 23 to June 26. Meanwhile, York handed the Barnstormers (53-33, 8-8) their first three-game losing streak since late May. York is also 9-4 in its last 13 games while Lancaster has gone 5-8 in its last 13. The Revs lead the Community Cup series 9-to-8 with a three-game set remaining in Lancaster in August. The first team to 11 wins claims the Community Cup, which has alternated cities since 2007.

York is now tied for first place in the Freedom Division second-half race with Sugar Land. York will have off Monday before hosting Bridgeport (39-47, 8-8) on Tuesday in the first game of a three-game set. York right-hander Corey Thurman (9-2, 4.20 ERA) will face lefty Dan Serafini (3-2, 3.25). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

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The Revs have finally found their offense. And just when that happens, York saw lefty starter Ryan Feierabend picked up by the Cincinnati Reds earlier this week.

As a result, the Revs are still looking for a fifth starter.

York is looking at a couple pitchers at the moment, but it’s unclear if either will join the Revs anytime soon.

In the meantime, the Revs’ starting rotation looks like this: 1. RHP Corey Thurman (4-1, 4.39 ERA), 2. RHP Omar Javier (0-3, 5.76), 3. LHP Chris Cody (2-5, 5.23), 4. LHP Jesus Sanchez (1-2, 4.44) and 5. RHP Shawn Hill (1-0, 4.32).

Thurman, Hill and Cody are the team’s three best starters at this point, while Javier and Sanchez haven’t shown enough to solidify a regular spot in the starting rotation.

And the Revs could be in even more trouble sooner than later given Hill’s dominance on the mound. Hill has now thrown 21.2 scoreless innings in a row after holding Camden to no runs on three hits in seven innings of work on Thursday night at Sovereign Bank Stadium.He has yet to give up a run in all four of his starts this year, and big league ball clubs are likely paying attention. There was a pro scout in the press box at Thursday’s game checking out Hill, who is a former major leaguer.

Anyway, should the Revs not find a starter out on the open market, I figured we’d take a look at who York might eventually look at to challenge Javier or Sanchez.

Houser: Back in spring training, Revs’ pitching coach Mark Mason talked about right-hander James Houser eventually being worked into the starting rotation later in the season. In 16 appearances out of the bullpen (through Wednesday), Houser has a 6.75 ERA, striking out 13 and walking four in 14.2 innings. Houser, a former 2nd round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2003, had been a starter his whole career until the 2010 season, so he has plenty of experience in a starting role.

Garceau: Garceau might be a long shot, but he should be tossed into this discussion nonetheless.  The former St. Louis Cardinals prospect was a starter all of his career until coming to York in 2011. He went back-and-forth between the bullpen and starting rotation all of last year with the Revs, and he had a couple really good moments as a starter.

In 20 appearances a year ago, including 10 starts between June 29-September 11, the 24-year-old went 3-3 with a 3.41 ERA, allowing only 61 hits in 71.1 innings. He enjoyed the best month of July in Revolution history, posting a 1.71 ERA in eight games (three starts), and combined to go 2-0 with a 1.70 ERA from June 29 through August 10. Garceau came within two outs of a complete game shutout on August 10 in a 4-1 win at Camden. Two starts later, he did go the distance in just the second complete game shutout in Revs history, a four-hit, nine-strikeout effort against the Road Warriors on August 20.

However, the 24-year-old righty has been battling injuries all of the 2012 season. He made his first appearance out of the bullpen on May 4, Garceau tossed one scoreless inning. However, he went on the inactive list shortly after to recover from tendonitis in his throwing arm. Garceau returned to action on June 5, but gave up two runs on a hit and a walk in one inning of relief. If he were to start, it wouldn’t be anytime soon. First, he has to show he’s healthy and then York can focus on building up his arm strength.

Novoa: Left-hander Yunior Novoa is the likely candidate to get a spot in the rotation. Like Javier and Sanchez, Novoa has gone back-and-forth between being a reliever and a starter this season.

But he’s looked more impressive out of the bullpen. In seven appearances (12.1 IP), Novoa has yet to give up an earned run. In his five starts for York (21.1 IP), Novoa has a 9.70 ERA.

My take: If Hill gets picked up soon, which is likely to happen, York will be in a real conundrum with its starting rotation. Thurman and Cody have been solid most of the year, but after that? Javier, Sanchez and Novoa have been inconsistent. The Revs will need to bring some serviceable bodies in (and that could likely happen soon, too). Otherwise, they’ll have to hope the hot hitting as of late carries them for the next month-and-a-half until the first half of the season wraps up.

…

Bullpen: Until Thursday night, York’s bullpen had been the strongest and most consistent part of the team this year (Relievers Stephen Penney and James Houser combined to allow seven runs to Camden on Thursday night, which blew York’s 4-0 lead and proved to be the difference in the Riversharks’ 7-4 win). And with Garceau and lefty reliever Kris Regas recently returning, it’s likely even stronger.

As it stands now, the Revs have four right-handers and four left-handers in the bullpen, so York can flexible with who they send to the mound in the later innings.

Right-hander Ricardo Gomez (pictured left) could return soon as well. He’s been on the disabled list, dealing with bone chips, since early May after making three appearances to start the year, accumulating a 10.80 ERA over 3.1 IP.

Should he return, the Revs will have to figure out who to move off the active roster. York currently is at the Atlantic League maximum with 25 active players – 13 pitchers and 12 position players.

Either way, York likely wants to see if Gomez can return to his 2011 form, when he posted a 2.13 ERA in 21 appearances for the Revs.

Gomez pitched to York hitters during Thursday’s batting practice, and Revs pitching coach Mark Mason said earlier this week Gomez could see game action as early as Saturday.

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The second day of a scrimmage between the York Revolution and the Sugar Land Skeeters at Sovereign Bank Stadium, and a second win for the Revs.

This time, it didn’t take York until 7th inning to come alive. The Revs put their first run on the board in the second inning on a Travis Scott RBI single that scored Andres Perez. After a lead-off double by Michael Hernandez in the fourth inning, James Shanks later knocked a two-run homer out of the park to make it 3-0. Scott then singled and Salvador Paniagua followed with an RBI double to make it 4-0. Once again, Chris Nowak started off cold (going 0-for-3) and then homered in his fourth at-bat, with a two-run shot to centerfield that also scored Hernandez. York won by a final score of 6-1, with the Skeeters getting their lone run in the fifth inning on a sac-fly by Ben Harrison that scored Jimmy Van Ostrand. The game was cut short after eight innings due to rain.

Revs’ starter Chris Cody pitched three perfect innings, striking out one. Right-hander Shaun Garceau tossed a scoreless fourth inning, allowing a hit and striking out one. Lefty Ian Thomas gave up a run on one hit in one inning of work. Thomas also struck out a batter and hit a batter with a pitch. 6-foot-7 right-hander Stephen Penney, who arrived in York late Tuesday night, tossed a scoreless sixth inning, giving up a hit. Lefty James Houser was dominant in a 1-2-3- seventh inning, striking out two (including former Revs’ slugger Jason Botts). Santo Luis gave up a couple hits in the eighth inning but got out of trouble with an inning-ending double-play. As a whole, Revs’ pitching coach Mark Mason said York pitchers combined to throw 84 pitches in eight innings (10.5 average).

Revs’ manger Andy Etchebarren said afterwards he wasn’t impressed with Luis, but Revs’ pitching coach Mark Mason said Luis just has a couple things to work on.

“Based on the (radar) gun he’s probably throwing as hard or harder than anyone we had. I think it was straight and it was up in the zone. The control was there but the ball was up a little bit. He got squared up every time. I just think he has to work on getting the ball down.”

Mason said Garceau, who will likely be used a long-inning reliever to start the year, only got one inning on Wednesday because of the rain shortened the game.

Fan Fest: The rosters for the local all-star baseball team that will take on the Revs at Saturday’s Fan Fest have been released. Click here for all the details.

Houser: Feature story from Wednesday is on Houser, who comes to York after sitting out the 2011 season to recover from open heart surgery to repair an enlarged aorta. The story will be featured in Thursday’s York Dispatch newspaper (check it out online here). The 27-year-old reached the majors at the end of the 2010 season with the Florida Marlins and earned a spring training invite the following year with the Baltimore Orioles, where he found he needed surgery.

Thursday’s plans: The Revs will have a breakfast with season ticket holders on Thursday morning. Later, York is set to square off with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs at Sovereign Bank Stadium on Thursday in the team’s first official exhibition that will be open to the public. Game time is set for 1 p.m. However, Etchebarren said Wednesday night he’s unsure if the game will be played due to the weather. That may sound strange considering Thursday’s forecast (according to weather.com) is for 73 degrees and sunny. However, the field might not be in good playing condition depending on how much it rains overnight. If the game does happen, Mason said left-hander Jesus Sanchez will get the start for York. It looks like Michael Schlact will get the nod for the Blue Crabs.

Skeeter signed by Rays: Right-hander Lance Pendleton became the second Sugar Land Skeeters’ player to be picked up out of spring training. The Tampa Bay Rays signed Pendleton on Wednesday and assigned him to Class AAA Durham. Pendleton reached the majors at the end of last season, tossing four innings in relief for the Houston Astros and 11 innings for the New York Yankees. He had earned a spring training invite with the Astros this year but was realeased on March 30. For more on the signing, click here.

Sugar Land sold out: According to Skeeters’ play-by-play man Lane Zieben, the first official game at Constellation Field in Sugar Land will take place this Saturday when a pair of high school teams meet up for a regular season game. Zieben said the game is already sold out.

Quotebook: For the second day in a row, Etchebarren picked on catcher Octavio Martinez, who caught for York last year and is now with Sugar Land. When Martinez walked out for batting practice on Wednesday, Etch’ had this to say to him:

“When you come up today, we’re going to bring all the outfielders into the infield. If you get it past them, it’s a hit.”

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